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Author: Dave Riggert

No. 10 Kansas gets blown out at Temple 77-52

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riggertKUPHILADELPHIA (AP) — As he tried to recall some of the game’s most pivotal plays, Fran Dunphy called one shot “impossible” and shook his head in disbelief when recalling two others that somehow banked in.

Temple’s coach was as surprised as anyone by just how thoroughly his team dominated No. 10 Kansas.

Led by 19 points from Will Cummings and 18 from Quenton DeCosey, the Owls stunned Kansas with a 77-52 rout Monday night that snapped the Jayhawks’ eight-game winning streak.

Jesse Morgan added 17 points and keyed a dominant second-half performance from the Owls, who were swallowed up after the game by a sea of Temple fans rushing the court at the Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

“I think we played about as well as we possibly could have,” Dunphy said. “It was our night.”

Frank Mason III scored 20 points for Kansas (9-2), which shot 32.1 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers.

No one else on the Jayhawks hit double figures, and leading scorer Perry Ellis was held to five points on 1-for-10 shooting.

“We played tired,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “And we played like we were a half-step slow or even a full step slow, in my eyes.”

The win marked Temple’s first over Kansas since 1995 but continued an impressive streak for the Owls under Dunphy. Temple has beaten a top-25 team in each of the past eight seasons and has knocked off a top-10 team in six of the past seven seasons.

Temple’s last win over a top-10 team came against Syracuse at Madison Square Garden — two years ago to the day. Three seasons ago, when Cummings was as freshman, the Owls stunned Duke at the Wells Fargo Center.

“I really wanted it to happen again,” Cummings said. “I didn’t think the fans would rush the court again. It’s a great feeling for our fans to celebrate with us. It was a great crowd tonight, and we just wanted to give them something to celebrate.”

The Owls (8-4), who have won four of their past five, shot a blistering 58.3 percent from the field, including 69.2 percent in the second half.

Plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection, the Jayhawks never led. They cut a 10-point deficit to six after halftime, but the Owls went on a 26-9 run to build a 61-38 lead midway through the second half.

The stunning spurt was capped by back-to-back 3-pointers and a three-point play from Morgan, who made his second appearance for the Owls after transferring from UMass and sitting out the first semester due to NCAA eligibility rules.

The Owls have won two straight and outscored their opponents by an average of 22.5 points since Morgan and fellow transfer Devin Coleman (Clemson) made their Temple debuts.

Coleman added five points and hit a reverse layup to put Temple ahead by 25 with seven minutes left.

“Those two guys are great scorers,” Cummings said. “You can put the ball in their hands and trust them. That takes a lot of weight off my shoulders.”

After the game, Self said he was “very impressed” watching Temple’s guards drive through the lane almost at will and make a flurry of very tough baskets. But the Kansas coach was mostly disappointed his team couldn’t combat that by executing its own offense.

Kansas struggled right from the opening tip, missing nine of its first 10 shots to fall behind 12-2 about seven minutes into the game. Things didn’t get much better for the Jayhawks the rest of the first half, either.

After a few Temple played jumped on the floor to corral a loose ball, Texas transfer Jaylen Bond electrified the crowd with a one-handed slam that put the Owls ahead 22-10 with 9:46 left.

The Owls led by as many as 14 before two 3-pointers by Mason in the final minute cut Temple’s lead to 35-25 at halftime.

“They were so much better than us,” Self said. “It wouldn’t have mattered how much energy we had. They were far superior tonight.”

Temple and Villanova are a combined 3-0 at the Wells Fargo Center this season, while the 76ers are 0-14.

—

TIP-INS

Kansas: The Jayhawks had their three-game winning streak against Temple snapped. They still lead the overall series 8-4. … The Jayhawks committed 13 turnovers in the first half, matching their season average for a single game.

Temple: For the fourth straight time they’ve played at the Wells Fargo Center, the Owls took the subway to the game from their North Philadelphia campus. … The Owls hit 12 free throws in the first half, while the Jayhawks didn’t make any.

WISE MAN

When asked if he ever could have expected Temple to beat a top-10 team this season after the Owls lost three of their first seven games, Cummings smiled and nodded.

“Yes,” he said. “Coach Dunphy told us it was going to happen.”

UP NEXT

Kansas hosts Kent State next Tuesday.

Temple hosts Delaware State on Sunday.

— Associated Press —

MWSU Board of Governors approves Spratt Stadium architect

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MWSUThe Board of Governors at Missouri Western State University has approved the selection of Ellison-Auxier LLC to provide architectural and design services on the Spratt Stadium project.

Jeff Ellison of Ellison-Auxier provided some preliminary conceptual drawings and layouts for fundraising efforts and the public announcement of the plan to make approximately $7.8 million in improvements to Spratt Stadium, including the construction of a new concourse, concessions are, restrooms, club level (including suites) and press box on the home side.

In moving beyond the preliminary phase, board policy requires that the university issue a Request for Qualifications on projects over $1 million. Five architectural firms responded to the RFQ, which was issued Dec. 1. A selection committee comprised of two governing board members and six university administrators reviewed the proposals and voted 8-0 to recommend Ellison-Auxier based on:

·         Prior experience working with similarly sized institutions.
·         Significant prior experience with building design on Missouri Western’s campus and with all aspects of the university’s facilities, grounds and fiscal constraints.
·         Direct experience with similarly sized stadium renovation projects, in particular Northwest Missouri State University’s football stadium renovation.

Ellison-Auxier can now move forward to finalize design plans and prepare bid specifications.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Missouri State rallies to defeat Oral Roberts Monday

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riggertMissouriStateSPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Camyn Boone scored only six points but hit a pair of clutch buckets and Missouri State collared four defensive boards late to fend off an Oral Roberts upset bid 52-45 on Monday night.

The Bears (6-6) made up a 10-point gap in the second half to defeat the Golden Eagles (4-7) for the second time in a week, snapping a three-game losing streak.

Marcus Marshall led the Bears with 16 points — 4 of 14 from the field but 7 of 9 at the line. Loomis Gerring added 10 points.

Oral Roberts never trailed in the first half, leading 31-21 at intermission, but made only four field goals after. The Golden Eagles still closed to 46-45 until Boone hit a jumper. ORU missed five shots, including four 3-point attempts, with Missouri State vacuuming all the rebounds.

Boone dunked with 33 seconds left and Marshall closed it at the line.

— Associated Press —

Chiefs lose at Pittsburgh 20-12; playoff hopes still alive

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riggertChiefsPITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers spent two years rebuilding themselves on the fly, a necessary process that frequently looked more erratic than inspiring.

Consider the project nearly complete. The surging Steelers are heading back to January.

Ben Roethlisberger passed for 220 yards and a touchdown, Le’Veon Bell added a score and the Steelers locked up a postseason berth with a methodical 20-12 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

“It was such a sense of urgency this week, knowing what was at stake,” defensive end Cameron Heyward said. “I just thought we answered the challenge.”

Pittsburgh (10-5) faces Cincinnati next week for the AFC North title. Either way, the Steelers are in the playoffs for the first time since Tim Tebow and Denver stunned the defending AFC champions in the wild card round three years ago.

That group was on the tail end of a stretch that saw Pittsburgh put together three Super Bowl appearances in six years. This group is decidedly younger. The Steelers won their third straight and are 7-2 since an October loss at Cleveland left them at 3-3.

Those days suddenly seem long ago. Pittsburgh kept the Chiefs in check behind a resurgent pass rush energized by the return of James Harrison. The 36-year-old linebacker missed last week’s win over Atlanta with a knee problem. He returned to pick up 1.5 of Pittsburgh’s season-high six sacks.

“We’re headed in the right direction,” Harrison said.

The Chiefs? Not so much. Alex Smith passed for a season-high 311 yards, but Kansas City lost for the fourth time in five games. The Chiefs need to beat San Diego next week and get some help to make it back to the playoffs for a second straight year under Andy Reid.

Moving the ball wasn’t a problem. The Chiefs outgained the NFL’s top-ranked offense 327-288 but couldn’t seem to get the one momentum-turning play that mattered. Kansas City came in second in the NFL in red zone touchdown percentage only to see six drives into Pittsburgh territory end with four field goals by Cairo Santos, Jamaal Charles’ fumble and a fourth-down gamble late in the first half that fizzled.

“There are so many little things that happened,” Smith said. “They’re not big things, but just little stuff that gets magnified.”

That’s the case this time of year. And the Steelers, after a brief foray into 8-8 mediocrity in 2012 and 2013, are back playing their best football when the temperature drops. A roster that’s undergone a youth movement since a Super Bowl loss to Green Bay four years ago is growing up quickly, though with a few familiar faces leading the way.

The Steelers’ win also eliminated the Dolphins from the playoffs as the crowded AFC field thins. Pittsburgh heads into the final weekend of the regular season with a postseason spot assured. The only question now is the destination.

Roethlisberger wasn’t as dynamic as he’s been at times this season but led a pair of long touchdown drives. The second ended with a 3-yard strike to Antonio Brown that gave Pittsburgh a 17-6 lead late in the third quarter. Roethlisberger briefly went to the locker room with a right knee injury but returned after a Kansas City field goal to guide a 12-play, 70-yard march that ended with Shaun Suisham’s 23-yarder with 4:04 remaining to all but clinch it.

A team that struggled closing out opponents early in the year has won three straight, with each one featuring a dominant finishing kick.

“You can see us cutting down the mistakes,” Bell said.

Instead, the Chiefs flinched, though not for lack of imagination. Kansas City put together a successful fake field goal in the first half that extended a drive but didn’t lead to the end zone. Trailing 10-6 late in the half, the Chiefs drove to the Pittsburgh 12 and faced fourth-and-inches with 27 seconds to go.

Rather than opt for a chip-shot field goal that would have trimmed the deficit to a point, the Chiefs went for it. Charles was drilled by Lawrence Timmons behind the line of scrimmage, and when Will Allen piled on, the Steelers had the ball and the momentum with a postseason berth just 30 minutes away.

“When your back is to the wall, it shows what you’re about and what you stand for,” Timmons said. “That was huge for us.”

Game notes

Brown finished with seven receptions for 72 yards. He now has 122 catches on the season, the third-highest single-season total in league history. … Charles was held to 29 yards rushing on nine carries, his second-lowest total of the season. … Pittsburgh has won six straight games in December.

— Associated Press —

Griffons’ upset bid comes up short against Central Oklahoma

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MWSUBig free throws in the final seconds helped MIAA-leading Central Oklahoma hold off a comeback effort by the Missouri Western men’s basketball team Saturday in the MWSU fieldhouse.  UCO held off the Griffons for a 62-57 victory over MWSU.

A free throw from Western’s Cortrez Colbert tied the game at 57 with 1:15 remaining. It was the first time the Griffons had not trailed since the 6:22 mark of the first half. Missouri Western never took the lead and the Bronchos made five free throws down the stretch to complete the five-point victory.

The Griffons drop to 5-5 on the season and 1-2 in the MIAA.

A 14-1 run in the final 9:29 of the first half proved to be too much for Missouri Western. The Griffons led 15:13 with just 11 minutes to go before halftime. The Griffons scored just three points the rest of the half as Central Oklahoma scored 14 to take a 27-18 lead to the break. The Bronchos stretched the lead to 10 early in the second half but Missouri Western was able to claw back before ultimately coming up short.

The Griffons shot 39 percent from the field, 13 percent from three-point range and 73 percent from the line. They forced 22 UCO turnovers and had 13 steals. The Bronchos dominated the boards, outrebounding the Griffons by 10.

For the second straight game, Cortrez Colbert led all players with 24 points. Colbert also finished with four rebounds and five steals. Kevin Thomas finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Dareon Jones added 12 points and four rebounds.

Missouri Western will enjoy a break from action with their next game coming on Jan. 3 at Washburn.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Bearcats win overtime thriller over Fort Hays State

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NWMSUBy David Boyce

MARYVILLE, Mo. – In a game it never trailed in, Northwest Missouri State men’s basketball team definitely would have preferred to beat Fort Hays State in regulation.

But the Bearcats showed their grit and resiliency to overcome blowing a 13-point lead late in the second half and pulling it together in overtime for an impressive 74-66 victory Saturday evening at Bearcat Arena.

Christmas will certainly be merry for the Bearcats and their enthusiastic fans who showed up for an instant MIAA classic. The win sent Northwest into Christmas break 8-2 overall and 2-1 in conference.

“It is always nice to go into our seven days off with a positive memory, going out with a win, especially a big win against Hays,” said Northwest senior guard Matt Wallace. “If you lose, it is on your mind Christmas Day, thinking, man, we dropped that one.”

Leading only 52-48 with 8:04 left in the game, Northwest put on a clinic of doing the right things to increase its lead. It started with a nice pass from freshman Justin Pitts that led to an easy layup by senior Grant Cozad.

On the next offensive possession, junior Conner Crooker went strong to the basket for a layup, making it 56-48. Sophomore Zach Schneider followed with three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point shot.

And with 3:44 left, Cozad scored on another layup after receiving a great pass from Schneider, making it 61-48.

“When you know you have shooters on the wings that can knock it down, it makes our offense run that much smoother,” Cozad said. “We get the ball moving and Pitts is a playmaker. He can drive in the lane and give our shooters on the wing open shots. That helps our inside-outside game that much more.”

The Bearcats looked like they had the game won, but Fort Hays battled back. The Tigers were down 62-58 with one minute left and then proceeded to tied things up at 64 with 10 seconds remaining on a three-pointer by Jeremy Wilson.

Pitts potential game-winning three-pointer bounced off the front of the rim, sending the game into overtime.

The momentum rested with Fort Hays. Northwest, though, had something working in its favor.

“We knew since we were up the whole time, we knew we could get back up in overtime,” Crooker said.

Cozad put Northwest back in front with two free throws. The lead grew to five on a three-pointer by Crooker with 2:57 left in overtime.

“It was a big shot but Zach also hit a big one,” Crooker said. “It was big for me because I missed a couple earlier and I was a little shaky on my confidence.”

With 1:09 left, a three-pointer by Schneider gave Northwest a 72-66 lead and sealed the victory.

Pitts finished with 19 points, Schneider scored 18, Cozad had 17 and Crooker added 15.

“This helps us a lot and it is going to help us down the road,” Wallace said. “If we did this at the beginning of the season and got into overtime, we probably would have lost. It shows how much we have grown, coming back after messing up a few times. We are going to grow on that and keep getting better.”

Northwest never trailed in the first half, but went into halftime with a narrow 36-33 lead.

Through the midway portion of the first half, the Bearcats played as well as they possible could at this point in the season. When they took their lead from 12-9 to 25-11, four different players scored.

On the defensive end, Northwest forced Fort Hays into rushing its shot and the Bearcats were in position for the rebounds.

Fort Hays, though, is too good to be blown out of a conference game in the first half. The Tigers stormed back, scoring 12 straight to make it 25-23.

Northwest stopped the run with a three-pointer by Zach Schneider, making it 28-23. The rest of the first half, Northwest’s lead fluctuated from one to five points.

“For a young team to handle their runs and hold the lead is a testament to us,” Cozad said. “It shows how mentally strong we are, but there is a lot more room for improvement. We need to bring it in January.”

— Northwest Athletics —

Missouri Western women struggle in 79-64 loss to UCO

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MWSUCentral Oklahoma built a second half lead that was too much for the Missouri Western women’s basketball team to overcome on the way to a 79-64 loss to the Bronchos Saturday afternoon in the fieldhouse.

The loss dropped MWSU to 6-3 on the season and 1-2 in MIAA play.

The Bronchos made just one more field goal than the Griffons in their 15-point win. The difference was at the free throw line where Central Oklahoma took 30 foul shots to just 11 for the Griffons. UCO went 26-30 from the line with the Griffons finishing 8-11. UCO also outrebounded the Griffons, 38-28 and held MWSU to 39 percent from the field.

Chelsea Dewey led the Griffons with 20 points followed by Sarafina Handy’s 19. Mariah Jordan pulled down four rebounds, the most of any Griffon. Dewey also claimed five of the Griffons 12 total steals.

Missouri Western now gets a breather, not playing again until Jan. 3 when they travel to Washburn.

— MWSU Sports Information —

Tigers lose to Illinois on three-pointer at the buzzer

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riggertMizzouST. LOUIS (AP) — Illinois left the game in Rayvonte Rice’s hands. He didn’t need much of an opening.

Rice held the ball for the last shot and hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer over two defenders for the last of his 19 points, giving the Fighting Illini a 62-59 victory over Missouri in the annual Braggin’ Rights game on Saturday.

“Ray obviously in the second half was an absolute monster on both ends of the court,” coach John Groce said. “I felt like he had that look in his eyes. We drew up a lot of things for him.”

Illinois (9-3) had a tougher time than expected against Missouri (5-6), which is rebuilding under new coach Kim Anderson. Rice also had seven rebounds and three assists, Ahmad Starks added 13 points and Malcolm Hil had 10.

“At first, I didn’t understand how big of a rivalry it was,” Rice said. “Fans can’t wait to go all year.”

Wesley Clark’s jumper from the key tied it with 17.8 seconds remaining but Missouri never got the ball back. Rice dribbled for several seconds before stepping up the key and drilling a fade-away shot over defenders Keith Shamburger and Johnathan Williams III. He watched the shot fall before getting mobbed by teammates.

“It was crazy because it was a tough shot from my angle,” teammate Malcolm Hill said. “I thought there was little chance for it to go in. When the buzzer sounds, I was like `That’s game!”

Missouri has tended to fade late but this time refused to fold after falling behind 42-36 when Starks scored on a drive with 12:46 left.

“In the past it’s turned negative. We’ve seen it. A little bit of a run and all of a sudden we’re down 10 or 12,” Anderson said. “I don’t want to be a program where we’re happy to lose, that’s not what this is.

“But I did watch some guys grow up and show what the can do.”

Williams had 15 points and eight rebounds for Missouri. Clark added 11 points, five rebounds and three assists and also tied it at 55 with 4:40 to go. He regained his starting spot because Namon Wright has been ill.

Wright had three points in 11 minutes.

Illinois was unranked for the pre-Christmas rivalry game for the second straight season after losing three of five, although two of the setbacks were to No. 15 Miami and No. 7 Villanova.

It was just the eighth time in 34 games in the series with neither team ranked.

Jakeenan Gant scored off an inbounds play with 3:34 left to give Missouri its last lead at 57-55. The Tigers didn’t score again until Clark tied it in the final seconds.

Illinois missed its first seven 3-point attempts but made two of its last three late in the half, with Starks connecting with 4.7 seconds left for a 32-30 lead.

—

TIP-INS

Illinois: The Fighting Illini prevailed despite going just 4 for 18 from 3-point range. Ahmad Starks topped double figures for the first time in nine games, though he was just 1 for 7 on 3-pointers. He entered averaging 7.3 points.

Missouri: Shamburger scored all five of his points in the final 1:36 of the first half, including two free throws after a technical foul. He’s 29 for 32 at the line.

UP NEXT

Illinois: Hosts Kennesaw State next Saturday.

Missouri: Faces Oklahoma State in Kansas City Dec. 30.

IN THE HOUSE

Usually the crowd is evenly split, half clad in orange and the other half in yellow. This year it was closer to 60-40 Illinois. There were a lot more empty seats than usual and 20,079 tickets was about 2,000 shy of capacity. … Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog and Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon were among the luminaries in the crowd.

— Associated Press —

CSU-Pueblo wins Division II football National Title in Kansas City

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CSPThunderWolfKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Colorado State-Pueblo didn’t have a football program seven years ago.

Now, there is none better in Division II.

Chris Bonner threw for 191 yards and a touchdown, Cameron McDondle ran for 113 yards and the ThunderWolves relied on some stingy defense to knock off previously unbeaten Minnesota State 13-0 on Saturday for their first national championship.

Paul Browning had five catches for 84 yards and the game’s lone touchdown for Pueblo (14-1), and Greg O’Donnell bounced back from an early miss to connect on his next two field goals.

“To be able to come through and end it like this, it’s beautiful,” Browning said. “Thank you to Pueblo for allowing us to have a football program. To do this, it’s just a mind-blowing experience.”

The victory capped a remarkable rebuilding job by ThunderWolves coach John Wristen, who played quarterback for the school when it was known as Southern Colorado in the early 1980s.

The program was disbanded along with several others in cost-cutting moves in 1985, and Wristen was brought on board in 2007 to revive it. Pueblo won four games the following year and simply kept improving, going unbeaten in the regular season the three previous seasons.

Each of those years ended in playoff disappointment, though. But after losing its only game to Fort Lewis earlier this season, Pueblo made sure to finish things off this time.

“Our defense was outstanding. Our offense made the plays they needed to,” Wristen said. “I was convinced if we understood the process, played as hard as you can and play for each other — and not being perfect, but fixing your mistakes — we had a chance to be here.”

Ricky Lloyd and Nick Pieruccini shared quarterback duties for the Mavericks (14-1), though neither of them was particularly effective. Running back Connor Thomas, who had more than 1,300 yards rushing this season, was held to just 25 yards on 10 carries.

The result was the first shutout in the Division II title game since 1997.

“That was one of the best defenses we’ve seen,” Lloyd said. “We just couldn’t get on a roll. We couldn’t get any drives sustained and when you can’t get drives sustained, it’s tough to score.”

The Division II title game moved this year from its longtime home in Florence, Alabama to Sporting Park, the $200 million soccer-specific home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City — which looked just fine dressed as a football stadium for the first time.

As expected, two of the nation’s best defenses took center stage early. Neither team crossed midfield until late in the first quarter, and the game was still scoreless midway through the second.

Both teams squandered chances, though. O’Donnell missed right on a 44-yard field-goal attempt, and Minnesota State’s Alden Haffar had his 27-yard attempt blocked.

O’Donnell finally broke the deadlock with a 27-yard field goal late in the half.

Minnesota State, which blew out Concord 47-13 in the semifinals, proceeded to go three-and-out for the second time in the half. Pueblo took advantage of good field position and briskly marched 69 yards, taking a 10-0 lead on Bonner’s 18-yard fade pass to Browning.

“Just saw a good mathcup out there with Paul. Any time I see that, I’ve been doing it all year, I’m going at him,” Bonner said. “Just a well-executed play.”

O’Donnell added a 24-yard field goal early in the second half to extend the ThunderWolves’ lead, and the same defense that shined in 10-7 semifinal win over West Georgia came through again.

For Minnesota State, it was a bitter ending to a remarkable season.

Todd Hoffner returned as coach after a two-year hiatus caused by some messy legal trouble, and the Mavericks put together a perfect regular season. They then advanced to the Division II finals for the first time, beating perennial powerhouse Pittsburg State in overtime along the way.

On Saturday, they finally ran into the first team they couldn’t beat.

“We didn’t come into the game satisfied. We came in to compete. We came in to win,” Hoffner said. “You get 60 minutes. You get one chance to compete, and if you don’t get it done, you have a result like you had today.”

— Associated Press —

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